(Reuters) – Yorkshire will not take any disciplinary action against its employees, players or executives following an independent report into allegations of racism by former player Azeem Rafiq, the club said in a statement yesterday.
Yorkshire had last month provided a summary of the report, apologising to Rafiq and accepting that he was a victim of racial harassment and bullying during his first spell at the county between 2008 and 2014.
Rafiq, a player of Pakistani descent and a former captain of the England Under-19s, last year said he was made to feel like an outsider at Yorkshire and contemplated taking his own life.
The county, however, said yesterday that it had carried out an internal investigation following the findings of the report and come to the conclusion that there was no conduct that warranted disciplinary action.
“None of this diminishes the importance of the findings or that fact that there is much the Club can learn from the Report,” Yorkshire said in a statement.
“It was important for Azeem to raise the issues and without him doing so we would not have the Panel’s recommendations which are an important part of the Clubs continuing journey.”
Rafiq, 30, tweeted: “Hold on a minute here So you accept I was the victim of racial harassment and bullying but no one warrants disciplinary action? Sometimes you just want to scream!!!! @ECB_cricket come on now!!! Sort this before I do!!”
Yorkshire added that a copy of the report had been sent to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
“The ECB has this afternoon received a copy of the Report carried out on behalf of Yorkshire CCC into the allegations made by Azeem Rafiq, together with assurances from the Club to cooperate fully with the ongoing regulatory process,” the governing body said.
“This is a matter with many serious allegations at its heart and the ECB’s regulatory team will now consider the Report as part of its investigation.”
